The most recent YouGov/Economist poll puts the Democrats ahead of their Republican rivals.

The poll, conducted between the 3rd and 5th September, asked voters which party they would vote for in an election for the United States’ congress.

A total of 39% said they would vote for the Democrats, six points ahead of the 33% who said they would back the Republicans. A further 3% said ‘other’ while 18% said they were not sure and 7% said they would not vote.

The US House of Representatives is currently dominated by the Republicans, as is the Senate.

In 2018, the entire House is up for re-election as is one third of the upper-chamber.

If these poll numbers got translated into actual votes at an election then the Democrats would probably take control of the House, although it is worth noting that the House has a history of producing majorities for the party that does not win the most votes overall.

Data collected by FiveThirtyEight, indicates that the Democrats have been leading the polls, since at least May. If the party capitalises on anti-Trump sentiment, they could be on course to take back the House and perhaps even win the senate next November.

However, the poll does little to combat the image that congress is viewed poorly by the American people. It found that just 11% of Americans approved of Congress overall. In contrast, a staggering 57% said they disapproved of the legislative body while a further 17% said they neither approved nor disapproved.

Richard Wood

Richard Wood is a Masters student in Political Research at the University of Aberdeen and is Head of Media for campaign-group TalkPolitics. Other than politics, he is passionate about travel, running, and writing, as well as all things space-related.